Thank you to my parents and grandparents for the precious gift of their lives and thoughts, recorded in letters, diaries, photos, slides, films, audio tape, notes—so much more than can be listed here. Incredibly, they lovingly saved, labeled, and organized these thousands of family-history treasures, creating an archival collection that spans the twentieth century. The clarity and honesty of their writing put me into their hearts and minds and made visceral for me their emotions, traumas, sorrows, and happiness–just as they experienced them–in real time.
Thank you, thank you to my husband, Bill. For fifteen years, he’s listened patiently to my dismay or thrill over discoveries in the archives. He’s cooked dinner for years and has tolerated twenty-five boxes of family history stored in our garage and spilling over into an entire room of our house. I was a mere sixteen when we met, and I’ve never doubted his total love and devotion to me. I’m one lucky gal.
Thank you to the many editors without whom Redlined would never have been published; to Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, family-history maven, author, and genealogist, who first helped me to see a bigger picture and delve into deeper meaning; to Anjali Sachdeva, my mentor at Creative Non-fiction, who read my 135,000-word tome and, with wise counsel and a firm grasp of story, led me to cut the chaff and uncover the kernel of my story and fine-tune the writing. I also owe gratitude to authors, writing instructors, and my neighbors, Sharon and Steve Fiffer, whose valuable advice helped move my story forward. Thanks to my She Writes Press editor, Annie Tucker, who took my almost-final manuscript to the next level.
Thanks to my beta readers. A special shout-out to Adrienne Lieberman, a reader extraordinaire, who placed scores of sticky notes throughout an earlier manuscript draft, noting everything from word choice and grammar tweaks to suggested cuts. She then graciously reviewed yet another draft.
Thank you to Susan Beck, who read an early manuscript and shared not only her takeaway from the story but also brought her keen sense of persuasive language to bear on my core message, title, and website. Another thank you to Susan and to dedicated teacher, Vikki Proctor, for working together with me to create questions for book groups and book clubs. We hope they enrich all readers’ experiences.
Mary Nelson, founder and first president of Bethel New Life, which grew out of the Gartz family’s church in West Garfield Park, was generous with her memories of our community, where she has served the neighborhood since 1965. My thanks also for putting me in touch with many longtime West Side residents, who shared their experiences with me for the book.
Dr. Josh Akin spontaneously responded to my description of the book with, “Redlined! That would be a great title.” Yes, it is. Thank you!
The most consistent supporters and readers of my manuscript as it stumbled along for more than ten years were the members of my writing critique group, The Writers of Glen-coe, Il. Their combined talent is immense. A special mention to those moderators at The Writers who so improved my craft and whose relentless enthusiasm and encouragement kept me going. A thousand thanks to Fred Shafer for his years of detailed notes, and to Sharon Solwitz and Anne Calcagno for their wise insight.
A big thank-you to the extraordinary and indefatigable Brooke Warner, publisher and founder of She Writes Press, for recognizing my book as both an important personal as well as historical story that needed to be told. I appreciate the opportunity to be published with a dynamic press and work with team members at the highest level of professionalism.
I’m forever indebted to Amanda I. Seligman, chair of the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin– Milwaukee, for her book Block by Block: Neighborhoods and Public Policy on Chicago’s West Side. Who could have dreamed that an urban historian would write her PhD thesis on my former neighborhood? She generously agreed to read my manuscript for accuracy and has continued to offer a historian’s insights throughout the process of publication.
To the dozens of wonderful memoirists, too numerous to mention, whose books inspired me with their honesty and taught me about good and truthful writing, I am thankful.
Finally, I’m grateful to Chicago’s Newberry Library for its enthusiastic acceptance of the Gartz Family Papers as a donation to its Midwest Manuscripts Collection, where future researchers will find a history of twentieth-century life in Chicago as experienced through the lives of ordinary people who did extraordinary things.